Dr. Richardson joined the UNT faculty in 2001 as an assistant professor and was promoted to associate professor in 2008. He received his doctorate in Communication Studies from the University of Texas at Austin (2001), his master's degree from Louisiana Tech University in Human Relations and Supervision (1992), and his bachelor's degree in Communication from Lamar University (1991). Dr. Richardson and his wife, Cheryl, have two children, Keith (born Sept. 11, 2002) and Ella (born Aug. 9, 2004). He enjoys traveling, live music, exercising, and reading. Dr. Richardson has several goals for his time as department chair. He would like to endow more scholarships for both undergraduate and graduate students, develop an awards banquet that honors and recognizes students, faculty, and alums, and reconnect with the department's alums who graduated more than 15 years ago.
Our Social Media Intern, Taylor Bell asks Dr. Richardson all of the hard hitting questions in our Faculty Spotlight. Check it out here!
Research Interests:
Dr. Richardson has two primary research interests: whistle-blowing/peer reporting of unethical behavior and disaster/crisis communication. Dr. Richardson is currently working on two projects, one of which examines how firefighters make sense of and cope with traumatic situations. He is also collecting data to understand why some individuals blow the whistle on organizational wrongdoing.
Recent Publications and/or Productions:
Richardson, B. K. (forthcoming). Whistleblowing. In C. R. Scott & L. L. Lewis (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Organizational Communication. New York: Wiley. (invited)
Richardson, B. K. (forthcoming). Whistle-blowing. In C. E. Carroll (Ed.), SAGE Encyclopedia of Corporate Reputation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. (invited)
Richardson, B. K., & Gravley, D. (in press). Defamation, public persecution, and death threats: Characterizing retaliation against whistle-blowers. In E. Gilchrist-Petty & S. D. Long (Eds.) Dark Side of Organizational Communication. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc.
Gravley, D., Richardson, B. K., & Allison, J. M. (2015). Navigating the narrative "abyss": Using narrative analysis to explore relationships among whistle-blowing, retaliation, and identity. Management Communication Quarterly, 29 (2), 171-197.
Teaching:
COMM 4120 - Sport Communication
COMM 5180 - Qualitative Research in Communication
COMM 5220 - Organizational Communication
COMM 5221 - Crisis/Disaster Communication
COMM 5625 - Communication Consulting
Select Awards:
UNT Leader Fellow (2014-15)
Honors Professor, University of North Texas (2014).
Research Excellence Award Winner, College of Arts and Sciences (2013).